Tiltable and independently rotatable dual wheels for trucks, etc.



May 27 1941. J. D'. ALTEMus 2,243,181

TILTABLE AND INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE DuAL'wHEELs FOR Taucxs, ETC Y Fmd'oct. 4, 1939 5 sheets-sheet 1 se Mmll 'l at l ATTORNEY.

J. D. ALTEMus 2,243,181

TILTABLE AND INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE DUAL WHEELS FOR TRUCKS, ETC

May 27,1941.

Filed Oct. 4, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY,

May 27, 1941- J. D. ALTEMus TILTABLE AND IHDEBENDENTLY ROTATABLE DUAL WHEELS FOR TRUCKS, ETC

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 -Filsd 0G12. 4, 1959 INVENTOR: James .Dosan lfemus,

)la ATTORNEY.

Iiii

May 27, 1941. J, D, AE1-Mus 2,243,181 TILTABLE AND INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE DUAL WHEELS Fon TRUCKS, ETC

Filed om. 4, 1939 5 sheets-sheet 4 www V lg

lNvENToR e James .Dobson H emus,

MATTORNEY.

May 27, 1941.

J, D. ALTEMUS TILTABLE AND INDEPENDENTLY ROTATABLE DUAL WHEELS FOR TRUCKS, ETC

Filed oet. 4 -1939 Y s sheets-sheet s lNVENTOR Jmes Dobson /ltemus,

#1.4 ATTORNEY.

l effecting the banking jectingtilting Patented May 27, 1941 TILTABLE am) ENT oral-CE ABLE DUAL WHEELS FOB. TRUCKS, ETC. James Dobson Altemus, Roslyn, N. Y.

Applicaties october 4, 1939, serial No. 297,853

s claims. (ci. iso-'22) This invention relates to a' dual wheel as.v

semblage for trucks, omnibuses and the like and has for its particular objects the provision of a simple, sturdy and economical mechanism for of such dual wheels in order to minimize the tendency of the vehicle wheels to skid under the iniiuence of centrifugal force when rounding a sharp turn on the pavement or when travelling on Other objects of the invention will hereinafter appear.

A preferred embodiment of my inventiomasv applied .to the driving and trailer wheels `of .a truck, is fully set forth in the following detailed description and drawings forming a part thereof, in which latter- I Figure 11s a fragmentary, vertical section of a driving dual `wheel assembly embodying ,my invention, the wheels beingshown in a'banked position: "l Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectionof the. dual wheel assembly shown'in Fig. 1, butA k shown inanormal or unbanked position? ,Y Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2; l

Figs. 4, 5 and tiY are -plan views respectively of the three members of a so'c`a11ed Oldham Acoupling, isolated; n v Fig; 7 is a fragmentary,l vertical section'of a dual front or trailer wheel assemblage embodying my invention; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged horizontal section of a fragment of the wheel shown in Fig. 7, isolated. vl'icferring to the drawings and the dual wheel assemblage shown therein, the referencev numeral I designates one of the half axles of a conventional differential drive and 2 the ball bearing support "therefor, the same being mounted within the axle' housing 3. VHorizontally protrunnions 4, 4', mounted in bosses formed on the axle housing 3, serve to support main journals 5, 5' which are articulated together by means of pivots'S, 5' and links 1, 'I' whereby parallel motion of said wheels is at all times insured. Saidjoumals 5. 5' are supported within the wheel hubs ing ring 9 is rotatably mounted between the hub 8 and journal 5 of the outer wheel.` A'bushing I and bearings II, II which are mounted externally of the journals 5, function to 'rnini, operation of the vehicle. the brake drum I3 is inte.

mize friction during A backing plate I2 for grally formed on the journal 5', thesame supporting the hydraulic or mechanical braking wet pavements under condig tions when skidding might otherwise occur.,

the wheels being l yblage in a vertical 3, 8' and apinion-carryblock 4I and serve to carry the main Journals-M angles to the key ways mechanismof conventional form (not shownlfin the well known manner.' A The reference numerals I 4, 'I4' designate the outer and inner wheelsv of the dual assemblage whose rims I5, I5v carry pneumatic tires A. A'v which are` mounted thereon in the Well knownv manner.

Members 20 4and 2l of a universal joint of standard construction serve to flexibly connect the driving-axle I to a drive plate 22 which is bolted .to thering 9. Pinions 23 are circumferkentially mounted onthe said ringz 9, lthe same meshingrespectively with a ring gear 24 bolted to the outer wheel 'I4 and also a ring gear 25 which constitutes one element of the well known Oldham coupling such as iscommonlyemployedl for connecting two shafts that are but slightly out of alinement. ,Said element` 25 has opposed axially extending key ways 26, 26' formed on its inner face and the element -25 of said coupling which is bolted to the inner wheel I4', has opposingvkey ways 28, 23' formed on vthe front face thereofvwhich extend axiallythereof but at right 28,125 o n the'element 25. Thelcenter member 290i the'coupling has axially extending keys 30,30 and 3|, 3| formed on the opposite lfac thereof, the keys 30, 30' extending at right angles to the keys 3|, 3| and, as shown in Fig. 2, said keys 30, 30' respectively cooperate with the aforesaid key ways 26, r25' While fthe keys 3l, 3 I cooperate respectively with said key ways 28, 23'; V- 'l Apivot block 35, carried by the backing plate I2 and link 35,'serves to connectfthe dual wheel assemblage to the tilting mechanism (not shown)` which latter, may be o1'k application No.'258,544 filed Feb. 25, 19,39.

Referring to the construction of the frontv orv railer, wheely assemblage .shown in Fig. 7 the reference numeral 40 designates an axle of the channel bearnfty-pe to permit of the 4tiltingof the dual wheel assemplane while admitting of the turning of the v*Wheels for. steering purposes through a horizontal plane. Horizontal trunnlons 43, 43', which aregenerally similar to the trunnions 4, 4', aremo'unted in thetrunnion 44, 44' which latterv arek connected together by means of pivots -`45,

steering operations is insured. Backing plates 4I,` 4l which are lntegraljwith the vJournals 44,

l any suitable type but is Y desirably of the type disclosed in my -co-pending Y to which atrunnion block` 4I is` pivotall'yconnected by the klngpin 42V soas and links .43, 46' and thereby the parallelismlof thedual wheels of the assemblage at all times' during'thetiltingandlf i coupling means between said wheels, a universal joint for connecting one of said wheels to a drive axle and means for connecting one of said journals to wheel tilting mechanism.

2. A dual wheel assemblage, comprising a tubular axle housing, two pairs of opposing trunnlons carried thereby, two cylindrical journals tiltable in a vertical plane which are interconnected so .as to tilt in unison and each of which is supported on a different pair of trunnions, a

" wheel, having a .central hub member, mounted in association with a pinion carried by the rotatable cylindrical sleeve 9, which pinion meshes with the ring gear 24 and ther-ing gear carried by the outer plate or disc element 25 of said coupling, insures of rotation of the inner wheel upon the rotation of the outer wheel by the drive shaft while admitting of the tilting of said wheels in unison and of the differential rotation thereof whenfrounding a turn in the road.

The anti-skiddingeffect which is realized`on vehicles equipped with my improved dual' wheel Abanking assemblage-and appropriate tilting mechanism therefor is due to the fact that instead of the pneumatic tires with which such wheels are usually now equipped tending to 'buckle or fold under the wheel `rim of a wheel that is rotating in a vertical plane, such as is ordinarily the case in the present automobile, and which tendency actually contributes to 'the V4an automobile equipped with my improved dual wheel banking assemblage, 'arel actually rolled transversely through a small arc' :and exert a weciging action against the pavement, thereby eiectively resisting the tendency of the Wheels to skid on the pavement. My improved dual wheel banking assemblage materially prolongs the'liie of the tires, especially pneumatic tires, since the frictional wear, due to skidding, which invariably occurs rto a minor extent in'the case of slight turnsin the roadand to a major extentfin the-casco! sharp bends'which are traversed at high speed, is very materially reduced'and the wear is chiefly confined to the ordinary frictional wear due to rotation of the wheels as they travel over the pavement, such `wear as for example occurs inthe ordinary automobilewhen the same is travelling in a straight path on a highway.

The reduction or even in many cases the substantial elimination of theskidding tendency of a vehicle equipped with my improved dual wheel banking assemblage and power tilting means for operating'the same is to a substantialextent dueA to the deflection of the horizontal centrifugal forces exerted on thevehicle when rounding a sharp turn at high speeds into an obliquejdownwardly directed force which supplments gravity "and augments the aforesaid wedging actionof the tires against the pavement.

Various changes from the construction herein described may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as embraced within the scope of the appended claims.

Having'thus described my invention, what I claim vand desire ytoy obtain by United VStates Letters Patent is:

on each journal, coupling means between said wheels, a universal joint for.connecting one of '3o skidding offthe wheel of the vehicle, the tires in said Wheels to a drive axle, means for permitting of differential rotation of the associated wheels with respect to each other and means for connecting one roi" said journals to wheel tilting mechanism.

3. A dual wheel assemblage, comprising two vhollow 'journals pivotally interconnected to insure the parallel tilting thereof, elongated supporting means projecting intoveach journal and to which said journals are pivotally secured so as to yadmit of the tilting'thereof in a vertical plane, a wheel rotatably mounted on each journal, coupling means interconnecting said wheels, a universal joint for interconnecting one of said wheels to a drive axle and means for connecting one'of said journals to wheel tilting mechanism.

4. A dual wheel assemblage, comprising a n tubular axle housing, two pairs of opposing trunnions carried thereby, two hollow journals tiltable in a vertical plane which `are pivotally interconnected together so .as to move in unison throughout a vertical plane and each of lwhich is supported on a different pair of trunnions, a

wheel, `havingV a central hub member, mounted 'on each journal, vcoupling means between said wheels, a universal jointfor connecting said wheels to av drive, axle, means for linking said journals'y together whereby tilting. of said dual a wheelsin parallelism through a vertical plane is insured'and means for connecting said journals to wheel tilting mechanism.

5. A dual wheel assemblage, comprising a tubular axle housing, two pairs of opposing trunnlons carried thereby, dual wheels mounted on separate tiltable journals which latter are linked together so as to tilt in unison and each of which is supported `on a different pair of trunnions, means, including a vuniversal joint, for connecting one of' said wheels to a drive axle, differential coupling means between said wheels and means for connecting one oi said wheels with wheel tilting mechanism. v

6. A dual wheel assemblage, vcomprising a tubular axle housing, two pairs ,of opposing trunnions carried thereby, twomain .hollow tiltablev journals each oi' which is supported on a diiierent pair of trunnions, means for pivotally securing said journals together to insure the parallel tilting thereofdua1 wheels each mounted on a d iierent one of said journals, coupling means interconnecting said wheels, a universal joint connected with one of said wheels for operatively connecting a drive axle therewith and means for connecting one of said journals with wheel tilting mechanism.

v7. A dual wheel assemblage, comprising a tubular'axle housingtwo pairs oi' opposing'trunnions carried thereby, two main hollow tiltable..

journals each of which is supported on a different pair of trunnions, means for pivotally securing said journals together to insure the parallel tilting thereof.. dual wheels each mounted on a different one of said journals, differential coupling means between said wheels for operatively interconnecting the same While admitting of relative rotation thereof, a universal joint connected with one of said Wheels for operatively connecting a drive axle therewith'and means for connecting one of said journals with wheel tilting mechamism.

8. The sub-combination comprising t'iltable dual Wheels mounted on a common axle housing, means for operatively connecting the outermost Wheel to a drive axle mounted Within said housing and means for effecting the differential driv- 

